Jar of Hearts
by fromBelgiumwithchocolatexD4
Summary: Tino had a perfectly wonderful life. A good job, a loyal boyfriend, plans for the future all layed out. One day when his Icelandic cousin tells him something, it instantly shatters Tino's life. Will a certain American be able to save him or not?
1. Chapter 1

Tino Väinämöinen was tired.

The Finn's day had been hectic, as always. The blond worked at Flying Mint Bunny, the leading children's store in the nation, as the chief designer of the toys section. It was hard work, but after the years he spent there, he'd managed to win the favor of the company's boss, an Englishman by the name of "Arthur Kirkland", and provide a decent lifestyle with his fiancé, a Swedish carpenter named Berwald Oxenstierna. His phone buzzed inside his pocket. Tino flipped the screen up and read the text.

"**Take your time coming home. Lots of traffic, snow and all. -Berwald" **Tino read to himself. He felt a smile inch across his face. Tino typed out a reply quickly, sparring a glance at the snow softly puffing downwards from the heavens above.

"**Of course I will! See you soon! Love, Tino" **

Tino lifted his worn messenger bag up onto the desk, creasing several blueprints that had been lying there. He placed his thermos and paperwork into the bag and carefully shut the flaps. Tino slung the bag over his shoulder and caught sight of his colleague, a certain American named "Alfred Jones". Said American was packing up, the drawings of action-figures slipping onto the floor as he waved enthusiastically to the Finn. As goofy as the man was, he had the best 3-D drawings that anyone had ever seen when it came to superheroes. Tino waved back, and started out the door into the snow that waited for him 4 floors below.

Berwald hadn't been kidding when he said the snow was thick, Tino almost couldn't get to his car. "Mother Nature must be PMSing again." Tino thought with a sigh as he tried in vain to start up his car. He leant back against the headrest, closing his eyes. Suddenly a recording of his Icelandic cousin Emil came on, singing "Jar of Hearts" by Christina Perri . He smiled, remembering how he had recorded it right outside of said cousin's bedroom, awestruck at the boy's singing ability. He pressed the talk button, and immediately the sound of Emil's voice came through the speakers.

"Tino? I'm sorry to be calling you at this hour, I know you're at work, but I have to tell you something, don't blame me, I only found out about this today as well.…" Emil started.

**==O==**

Tino paid no attention to the storm of cars honking their horns at him as he swerved recklessly through the lanes in a desperate attempt to get back to the apartment that he and Berwald shared. He felt the tears threatening to overflow his eyes as he parked the car and was buzzed in by the receptionist in the lobby. He raced up the stairs to the apartment. He didn't want to believe the things he heard from Emil. They must not be true. Emil sometimes did this, gave him a good scare to bring him back to reality.

But nothing Emil had ever said to him had such an effect on him.

He flung open the door to the apartment, and recoiled at the stench. It was something he knew all too well. The smell of sweat and sex. He carefully closed the door and took his shoes off not to make any noise and started down the hallway. He stopped outside the bedroom he and Berwald shared, hearing the sounds he had hoped he was wrong about. Gathering up all the courage he had, he screwed his eyes tightly shut and opened the door that was carelessly left unlocked.

He cracked open an eyelid and then both eyes widened with horror at the scene before him. His cousin. _His own cousin_, Nikolas lay, naked on the bed that Berwald and he had purchased together, and his fiancé, the supposed love of his life, the one he was supposed to _MARRY_, was equally as naked, and was on top of the Norwegian, suspicious white liquid dotting the sheets around them. Nikolas's head was thrown back in ecstasy as Berwald thrust into him. "Just a little more, Nor." Berwald murmured, leaning down to suck on the skin of Nikolas's neck. The Finn snapped.

"No. NO MORE!" the Finn yelled, effectively scaring the shit out of the two lovers. Both turned to him, both reactions frozen in a state of shock. The Finn started to stutter in Finnish and began to tremble, the messenger bag coming off his shoulder and falling in a ragged heap onto the floor. He felt like doing that too, his head spinning, he clutched the wall for support. He returned his eyes to the scene before him. Berwald had hurriedly pulled out of Nikolas and was hastening to find his clothing which was strewn across the room, Nikolas quickly following suit. Tino couldn't understand what was happening.

He shakily stood up and fled. He didn't take notice of the shouts behind him, calling, screaming at him to stop and listen. He didn't want to. Tino just wanted to dispel from his memory that awful vision he had just seen.

The Finn stopped running after a while. He touched the tear trails glistening on his cheeks and felt the buzz of his phone in his pocket. It was Berwald's ring tone. He placed his hands over his ears to block out the noise. It went to voicemail. He gripped his phone after ignoring several pleading calls from his cheating fiancé and cousin, and prepared to call his best friend Eduard with the news, but then remembered he and HIS fiancé were going out to dinner to celebrate Eduard's birthday.

He scrolled through the contacts on his phone and stopped at the one he never thought he'd have to use.

"Hello, hero speaking!" the cheerful voice of Alfred Jones exclaimed.

"Hi, Alfred, It's Tino….no I'm not fine. I'm sorry to ask, but do you think I could stay with you tonight?"

**-To be Continued...maybe-**

HA. HAHA. What my weird mind will come up with at 9:48 p.m….this apparently. Please review if you like it, I want to know if I should make it into a full story.

Hasta la Pasta!


	2. Chapter 2

-**Dedicated to Kess and ExtraPenguin-**

For the first time in his life, Tino felt disgusted. Completely and utterly disgusted.

With his cousin, with himself, and most of all, with that son-of-a bitch he called his fiancé. Or had called his fiancé. He didn't know. He was vaguely aware of the car he had seen Alfred pull up to work in skid to a screeching halt in front of him. The Finn could see the American, running over to him, the questions come tumbling loose from Alfred's lips, as the hands on his shoulders shook him gently. Either way, Alfred ended up carrying the half-conscious Finn to the shiny Volvo, and buckling him in like a small child.

Tino made a note to apologize to the enthusiastic man once they got back to Alfred's place, but after a while, his eyelids drooped downwards into a dreamless sleep.

**-OO-**

Alfred looked over at the now sleeping man as they rounded the corner next to Alfred's apartment block. High-price luxury suites for those people who rode on their Dad's coat-tails and made thousands of dollars each day. Alfred couldn't say that he wasn't one of them, heck, his old man was the top dog at the place he worked at. There was no greater satisfaction in the world than getting to embarrass your Dad in the one place he's actually respected.

He liked Tino. I mean, really liked him. Sometimes he wanted to pinch those cute cheeks of his that hadn't quite lost all the baby fat they had been supposed to. Sometimes he felt like squeezing the man for all he was worth when the Finn approved his drawings to be sent to production. Sometimes he just felt like Tino was the only one that understood him. When Alfred's old boyfriend Ivan had dumped him like a hot potato for some Chinese dude, Tino had been the one to sit him down, get him a cup of coffee, and just talk about his feelings, letting Alfred rant on and on before the American stopped to consider there was another person in this conversation. Tino had never minded.

That's why Alfred had been so surprised at the call he had received from the man whom he treasured above all else, save his younger brother Mathew, who was away in Europe, meeting the parents of his girlfriend, a Belgian by the name of Emma. Man, he still had to get that waffle recipe from her, didn't he? Back to the phone call. Tino had sounded so broken, yet so collected at the same time. Now Alfred could see how much he was broken. Almost to the point of no repair.

He pulled into the space closest to his apartment building and carefully climbed out, not wanting to disturb the Finn's slumber. He quietly opened said Finn's car door and painstakingly unbuckled the seatbelt, making sure that the man didn't wake up because of the loud click. Tino stirred for a moment, but fell back to sleep. A loud buzzing came from Tino's pocket.

Alfred debated his two options.

He could read the message the Finn had gotten just now on his phone, and possibly lose all the trust Tino had placed in him. He could also choose to leave the phone alone and have to ignore the curiosity that would be, without a doubt, torturing him the rest of the night.

Hmmmm. Read the message it was. Alfred squinted at the bright screen, trying the decipher the words for a moment, but then focused in on the message.

"Tino, please come home, I need to explain. -Berwald." And then another buzz. Alfred opened that too. "Tino, answer your phone. I'm calling you now. PICK UP NOW!" The phone then started to ring. Alfred cringed as he heard the ring tone. It was one of those sappy love songs that had been around forever, but he couldn't remember the name. He knew now that Tino was waking up, so he slipped the phone into Tino's pocket where it had already been, trying to piece together the messages. The American knew they meant something, he didn't know what. Yet. He carefully scooped the Finn up into his arms, and managed to lock the car. One thing was certain.

If anyone had hurt Tino, he was going to open a serious can of whoop-ass on them.

**-O_o-**

Tino woke up in an unfamiliar room. His mind surged forwards, trying to distinguish where he was. It was comfortably warm in the room, and he had a pile of thin blankets piled on top of his body. He pulled himself up to a sitting position and saw he was on a bed. Whose bed? The Finn was the only one in it. At that moment, Alfred came through the threshold. Tino sunk back into the headboard, remembering the unpleasant memories of the night before.

"Hey Tino, you okay?" the American asked him, sitting on the bed next to him. The Finn sat there a minute, dazed, the last veil of sleep still over his face. "Uh…um…I mean…" Tino murmured. The American cracked a grin. "That fine, huh? Hope you like coffee!" Alfred laughed, transferring a steaming cup of coffee into the hands of the waiting Finn. Tino gratefully took a sip of the drink, cheeks heating up to a rosy red. "_So….CUTE!" _Alfred thought to himself, covering his face with his hand, faking a cough. "I'll get you something to wear, I don't think those clothes of yours will make it. Maybe if we get them to the washing machine fast enough, we'll be able to save them!"

With a salute, Alfred barreled out of the room, and Tino smiled a moment before heard a huge crash. Tino leaped out of the mystery bed and followed down his friend's footsteps, only to slip on the hardwood floors and crash into the American, who had just gotten up. Either way, both ended up on the floors, positively laughing their asses off before they realized their position.

Tino was in Alfred's lap, one arm draped around the American's neck to steady himself, while Alfred had both arms locked around the Finn's waist. It was like they were in their own world. Then the little voice in Tino's head he called his "conscience" started berating him.

"_WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING? THIS MAN IS NOT YOUR FIANCE!" _

Then his I-really-couldn't-care-less voice he called "Bob" for obvious reasons, joined in on the conversation.

**"Oh, which fiancé? The two-timing, back-stabbing man you've lived with for how many years? Three this May, right? Oh, no, lets go back, maybe he's stopped f***ing your cousin long enough to give you a second thought."**

"_You know that's not fair." _

"**What wasn't fair was him cheating on us! Honestly, do you WANT a repeat of what happened in high school, Tino? Huh? I thought you were smarter than that. Apparently I was wrong. So, GO. Go back. Go home to a man who never gave a damn about you. Ignore this perfectly caring lovable fool who CARRIED YOU back to his place because you were so upset you couldn't speak or do anything."**

"_Tino, you'll end this whole thing NOW before it gets out of hand." _

Alfred looked at the Finn settled on top of his lap. Tino hadn't said anything for the better part of 5 minutes, but the grip on his neck was seriously starting to choke him. He cleared his throat and Tino immediately let go. "I-I'm sorry, I just…" Alfred smiled and him and Tino trailed off. Alfred pulled him to his feet and grabbed his jacket. "Where are we going?" Tino asked him. "You look like you're about to cry dude. We're going to show you what you're missing. By the end of the day, if you've not had any fun, I'm not a hero. And I am a hero." the American replied, already shrugging on his coat over his day-old clothes. "Ummm, Alfred?" Said American looked up with a frown. "No offense, but you look kind of shabby. Take a shower." Tino said, tossing him a towel. Alfred smirked and on impulse, leaned over and kissed the Finn's cheek. "Whatever you say, _wife_!"

**-End of this chapter!-**

AHH! Finally this beast is done! It took me forever to do this, je suis desole. :D Anyways, hope you liked it, please review if you want!

Hasta la Pasta!


	3. Chapter 3

Alfred ended up letting Tino use the shower first, dumping the towel into the Finn's arms, along with a pair of jeans and a light blue long-sleeve shirt. _(The Finn was given underwear too, but that's another story) _Then Alfred had chased Tino into the bathroom, and left him to shower. After a few minutes of trying to figure out how the damn thing worked, alternating between jets of hot and cold water, he found a nice temperature and relaxed. He fiddled with the cap on a bottle of lavender shampoo, then lathered the sweet-smelling substance onto his hair.

As he rinsed his hair, Tino thought of Alfred, who usually kept a strong masculine scent in the office, and wondered why on earth he had feminine shampoo. This new question made the two annoying voices in his head start up again. Yes, Tino talked to them often, so what?

"_Here's a thought, maybe he has a GIRLFRIEND! So, Tino, dry yourself off and scoot yourself back to your gentle Swedish giant, who probably mistook Nikolas as you….because you two look so much alike! Yeah, that's it!"_

"**Shut up, Conscience." **There went Bob**. "Why don't we leave Tino alone with his friend? The boy needs a break!" **

"_Uh, fine." _

Tino shook his head slightly, hitting the plastic curtain with droplets of water. He shut off the flow of water and stepped out of the shower. He wrapped a towel around his torso and wiped his feet on the fluffy bathroom mat. He looked out one of the massive windows, Alfred had said they were tinted so nobody could see inside, and a scene there made his eyes widen.

Berwald. His fiancé was outside, trudging through the soft snow _(that was exceedingly weird for late November)_, up the way towards Alfred's apartment block. Then the Swede stiffened as if a electric current had run through him. Tino pressed a hand to his mouth in order not to let loose the scream that was coming up.

How did he explain this? Berwald had told him 2 years ago that he knew where Tino was at all times. It was just a hunch, he said. Said hunch was proven when Tino was late coming home from work and forgot to call Berwald when he stopped at Eduard's house. Eduard just about shrieked the whole place down when the door opened and there was Tino's fiancé, in his patented glaring glory. Tino honestly didn't blame him, Berwald scared him senseless on occasion.

But this time was different.

This time, Berwald stopped, and looked up at the exact place Tino was. Exactly. He saw the evil smirk, so unlike him, on Berwald's face. He saw the Swede triumphantly place his hands on his hips. Tino actually screamed at this. Why? Because there in a holster no doubt borrowed from Vash, their Swiss landlord, was a Beretta 92. A gun. Tino heard Alfred running towards the bathroom. He pulled the towel closer against him as the bathroom door burst open.

"Tino! Are you okay? What's wrong?" the American yelled, dropping down to wrap his arms around the shaking Finn's shoulders. "Berwald….there….gun…me…help." the Finn babbled, pointing frantically downwards. Alfred glanced down and froze. Who was that? Why was Tino so scared of him? Wait a minute.

The message on Tino's phone.

The _"Tino, please come home, I need to explain. -Berwald". _

Whoever this "Berwald" guy was, Tino didn't want to see him. He looked like he could be distantly related to Tino, give or take a few cousins. Like five cousins, twice removed. Maybe then.

Alfred ground his teeth. The dude down there had a gun. "Get dressed, Tino. _Now." _the American hissed, still staring at the man down below him. Tino nodded and went, with the clothes Alfred lent him, into the bedroom across the hall to change. Alfred skidded out the bathroom and took off down the hall. He slammed against the door, locking it tightly, and pushing up the kitchen table against it. Little protection never hurt anyone.

He raced down the hall back to the bedroom. Tino had just finished putting on the clothes when Alfred raced in, wrapping an arm around Tino's waist and shoving them both into the monstrous closet to the right. Alfred locked that too. There in the dark, the American and the Finn sat, tucked underneath a heavy pile of winter blankets, the American's arm still around Tino's waist.

Alfred's face burrowed into Tino's hair. "_Lavender." _he thought to himself, momentarily surprised, but then allowed a faint chuckle to stir the silence. "You used the lavender shampoo?" he asked Tino. Said Finn looked up at him through those beautiful pale eyelashes of his and replied. "Yes….?" in a soft, cute voice. Alfred felt all the blood in his body go down to his…Florida. He cleared his throat. "Nothing's wrong, it's just….that's my brother's girlfriend's shampoo. I think it smells nice. Mine is in that huge white container." Tino face-palmed.

He…had used a girl's shampoo. If he wasn't girly looking enough as it was.

At that moment, when Alfred was going to apologize for embarrassing him, the door to the apartment began to rattle. Tino burrowed into Alfred's shirt and stayed there, quivering violently like the time Mr. Kirkland had given him a plate of "scones" for a reward. Even though the Finn's stomach was made of steel, he still had a hard time not throwing the stuff_-no, he was not calling those horrible things_ **FOOD**-back up.

They then heard silence, and then the unmistakable sound of a door unlocking.

"T'no? Yoo h're?" the unmistakable voice of the Swede called out. The couple in the closet held their breath. For a minute it seemed like Berwald would then leave.

However, they heard pounding footsteps coming closer and closer to the bedroom.

Where the two were hiding.

Crap.

-**OOOOH. CLIFFY.- **

HIYA! Sorry it took a long time to write this, I had a lot to do. Please review if you want to!

HAPPY THANKSGVING! (25 minutes early!)

**_Hasta la Pasta!_**


	4. Chapter 4

Tino knew he was going to die when he heard the bedroom door being flung open. The Finn burrowed into Alfred's arms, the American's arms tightening around his frame. He could hear the breathing of the Swede outside. It scared him. Alfred murmured almost silent comforts to him, but it did little to calm his nerves.

He closed his eyes and waited for the end, trying not to cry.

**Berwald's POV: **

One thought was on his mind.

Tino.

His sweet Finn. His fiancé. His little wife. No, no, not wife, Tino hated it when he was called that. It made no sense though. Berwald had left eighty-two, yes, eighty-two, messages on Tino's phone trying to explain what it was that had actually happened. He honestly didn't remember what had caused his actions.

Aha. That's right. He remembered now.

Mathias. Mathias Køhler. That was the reason why.

He could still remember the letter addressed to HIS fiancé. His hand clenched around the gun, and he felt his irritation build.

"_Tino,_

_How have you been? I don't see enough of you, well, I haven't seen you since high school after all. Those were some good times, huh? I would sleep in class, while you would dutifully take notes in the desk in front of me. Your hair was short then, did you decide to grow it out a bit, or did you still keep it short? I bet you kept it short, you girly boy, you. _

_Remember the old oak tree that we would eat lunch at every day? The one I accidentally chopped down when I brought in my battle-axe for no reason? Yeah, I remember that too. _

_Well, enough with the babbling. I just wanted to say hi and…._

_Oh, screw it. _

_I love you. _

_I've always loved you, even when we broke up, I still loved you. Why didn't you love me, Tino? Why did it have to be HIM of all people? I could treat you so much better than he could ever. Did you hear the news, I was recently promoted in the business I've been working for? Probably not. $ 900 a month, can you believe that? _

_Please get it touch T. I need you._

_Love always, _

_Mathias" _

Well. That was enough to tick Berwald off. He knew Tino had no feelings whatsoever for the Dane anymore at least, but what could he say? Berwald was obsessive like that. The Swede looked carefully around the bedroom. A large, built-in closet, a double-bed, and a few other necessities, like a nightstand, etc. His eyes fell on the closet.

Jackpot.

-**Creepy Berwald is Creepy.-**

Sorry it took me so long to update….I just had to involve Denmark somehow, and portraying him as the ex-boyfriend worked out….hope you enjoyed it, and please review if you want to. I also apologize for the shortness of this chapter….yup.

Hasta la Pasta!


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